Page 115 of Desperate Victory

I grinned. “Don’t pull anything.”

“Ha.” He bit my earlobe, just enough to leave a sting. “Come back in one piece, please. No bruises.”

“Do my best.” One more kiss and then Bodhi and I were at the door. I didn’t miss the gawping look Andrea wore as she stared at all of us or the narrow-eyed speculation on the boys’ faces.

Right. Not a conversation I was going to have right now.

Maybe not ever.

“They will have an interesting evening,” Bodhi said as he pressed the button for the elevator. I bit back a smile, but when I got his grin, my own escaped.

Our gazes locked and we both said, “Not it.”

Then laughed. Definitely not it.

Chapter

Thirty-Five

LAINEY

The last time I’d been in this theater, it had been filled with workmen and crew. The lights had been up and the seats emptied. It had—potential. Tonight? This evening? It was electric.

Em answered her dressing room door at the first knock. “You’re here!” Excitement filled her eyes and she threw her arms around me. I hugged her tight and let her pull me inside. “Girl time, Bodhi.”

“Have fun, PPG. I’ll be out here,” Bodhi said with a faint smile before the door closed.

Leaning back against it, she stared at me with wide eyes. Her cosmetics were done and there was enough glitter and shimmer highlighting her eyes and along her hairline to make her sparkle in the air.

“Well?” she asked, stripping off the robe. Beneath it she wore a body suit that hugged her frame. The suit was sheer across her torso and arms, with the only filled in areas covering her breasts and her groin. It was black and silver. “How are they? Andrea first, then the boys. Milo’s been… less than direct about answering my questions.”

“Andrea will be fine,” I told her, setting my purse down on a side table before going to the small fridge and pulling out a couple of waters. “She’s still in some shock that we found her and I don’t doubt a bit of denial. But we’ll get her home and look after her.”

Em accepted the water bottle, then turned to put it down. Her outfit was backless and the phoenix tattoo across her back was stunning in its wild reds, oranges, and golds. It actually looked like living fire.

“I love that tattoo,” I murmured before taking a drink of the water. I’d only gotten to see it a couple of times, but the work was really exquisite.

She flashed me a smile. “Vaughn did it. I love it too. If you ever decide you want one…” She dangled it out there. But I wasn’t sure I was a tattoo girl.

Em had a few. The one on her abdomen that told her head up and wings out. A circle of birds flying around one thigh. The phoenix on her back. She had a Vandals tat too, but you couldn’t see that in her outfit.

“Maybe,” I told her. “As for the boys—Levi seems to be more open to the idea of a big brother and family than Theo is. But they’re both—very guarded I suppose is the best description. Who can really blame them?”

Chewing her lower lip, Em retrieved her bottle of water and opened it. “Milo isn’t sure Theo is ready to meet me.”

“Well, to be fair, I don’t think Pretty Boy is ready for Theo to meet you. If he cops an attitude with you, he’s probably going to get punched.” From more than one direction.

“Look, when Milo and I met, we were not… well, let’s just say I was the belligerent one then.” Her smile was almost wistful. “I gave him a really hard time. So maybe…”

“Maybe you understand where Theo is coming from?”

She shrugged. “Maybe? I don’t know. I do know Milo did not deserve quite as much of the shit that I gave him.”

“That doesn’t mean he didn’t deserve some of it.” I pointed my water bottle at her and she grinned.

“True. But Theo—Theo is different. We had no idea he existed.” Em went silent, looking at her water bottle before blowing out a breath. “I didn’t know Milo or the Vandals existed. At first… knowing they knew about me and I had no idea about them. It hurt.”

“Em…”

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